The road to the White House has been an historic one this year. On the side of the Democrats, they have the first African American Presidential candidate. But the Democrats aren’t the only ones making their mark on history, because in August Republican candidate Sen. John McCain chose Alaskan Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate.
Sarah Palin has been the governor of Alaska since December 2006. In 2007, early in her term, Palin had anywhere between 89%-98% popularity rating among all voters, but in September 2008 her popularity dropped to 68 percent.
The “Bridge to Nowhere” is one of the biggest things that people know about Sarah Palin. The previously-named Gravina Island Bridge was proposed to connect Ketchikan to the Ketchikan International Airport. It was later nicknamed the “Bridge to Nowhere,” because the island had a population of fifty people. Sarah resented the nickname of “nowhere,” finding it insulting to the local residents. Delegates from Alaska were the bridge’s biggest supporters, but outside of Alaska it was called a symbol of “pork-belly” spending. In 2007 the bridge was cancelled by Palin. “Ketchikan desires a better way to reach the airport, but the $398 million bridge is not the answer,” she stated at the time.
On August 29, 2008, Sen. McCain announced Gov. Palin as his choice for his running mate; the selection of Palin was a great surprise to many. She is the second woman to run on a major U.S. party ticket (the first being Geraldine Ferraro as the Democratic Vice Presidential nominee in 1984). She gave her acceptance speech on September 3, 2008, at the Republican National Convention; it was watched by 40 million people and was very well received by the crowd.
Polls show that Palin has given McCain a major boost in his campaign. In a poll taken in early September, 34 percent of respondents said they were more likely to vote for McCain, now that Palin was on the ticket, while 25 percent were less likely.
Much like our politicians dance around questions, Mr. Irelan and Mr. Burger danced around the subject of their opinion on Palin. As for the vice presidential debate on October 1, Mr. Burger came away with a different opinion than what he went into it with. “I thought she was nice, perky, likeable,” said Mr. Burger about Palin. “I thought she lacked the substance that Biden had. But everything Biden wasn’t, she was.” Mr. Irelan had his thoughts on her qualifications as well. “Basically I think back in ’92, Bill Clinton had no idea about national security. George Bush, as governor of Texas, he didn’t have much knowledge on foreign affairs. As far as being qualified, I think she’s as qualified as anyone running,” said Irelan.
